The departure just one day after CEO James Gorman had these harsh words for employees concerned about low pay: "I say listen, you're naive, read the newspaper, number one. Number two, if you put your compensation in a one year context to define your overall level of happiness, you've got a problem which is much bigger than the job. Three, if you're really unhappy, just leave. I mean, life's too short."

However, Carney writes that a source at Morgan Stanley claims Mettler's departure is a "'not necessarily' related to Gorman's comments or compensation matters."